I didn't update this story for so long because I needed to write on my final thesis and a lot of other stuff. Yeah, don't ask, we have to do stupid, but oh-so-important stuff like that in our final highschool year. That's why it took me a long time to write this chapter. I know how it feels like for a reader to wait so long, so I'm sorry. I was so busy with school, I actually nearly had a nervous breakdown, at least it felt like I was going to have one. Don't worry, I'm alright now. ;)

Sorry if this chapter is bad. I believe school has sucked away all my inspiration and I think it isn't going to come back soon. I personally think this chapter has a lot of blabla-rubbish, but that's just my view on it.

Chapter 10

After what felt like a very, very long time, Emma started to wake up again. She could tell it wasn't dark anymore, because she could see the light in the room through her closed eyelids. She could hear the cars passing by and the birds flying around and chirping. Like the world had started to live again.

Emma opened her eyes and they immediately widened, because her nose was literally three inches away from Will's. Will had already woken up and he was smiling at her. She liked it, that this was the first thing she saw when she woke up, but it freaked her out a little bit as well. It was all new to her after all, maybe that's why she felt that way.

"Hello sleepyhead," he said softly, like they had been waking up like this for years.

She suddenly had the feeling that she needed more space. Not that she minded being so close to Will, not at all, but she needed some time to wake up and she wanted to do that with a bit more space. She moved away from him, so she was on her back instead of her side. He was still looking at her and she was staring back. They didn't say anything for about a minute. They simply enjoyed the view. Emma was the one to break the silence.

"What time is it?" she asked slowly, and she yawned; she needed a few more minutes to wake up completely. She knew this was not a dream, yet she feared it wasn't real. It was like, suddenly, reality was seeping into her head until it hit her. She didn't understand why it had taken her so long to understand that Will lying in her bed was so wrong and so right at the same time. She sighed, trying to ban those conflicting thoughts out of her head. She needed to deal with them later, now was not the time.

"It's almost noon, if I'm not mistaken," Will replied, still looking at her. Maybe he liked what he was seeing, she couldn't tell. The only thing she knew was that she didn't look so good with bed hair.

She growned, "I can't believe I've slept so long!"

"Maybe you needed it?" he suggested.

"Hmm, I guess so," she murmured, "You seem much more awake though. How long have you been awake?" she said while she rubbed her eyes.

"Long enough to watch you sleep," he said and he smiled mysteriously.

She grinned and shook her head slightly.

"You're a sneaky man, Will," she said, a smile lingering on her face.

"Believe me, I'm so much more than you give me credit for," he said and he wiggled his eyebrows, which resulted in a burst of giggles from Emma.

"Ouch!" she sudddenly exclaimed. "It still hurts a bit," she explained and she pointed at her throat, "but not that much."

"But you do feel better?" he said and she felt his fingertips graze against her throat. She only jerked away for about one second, but she immediately realized her mistake and she bit her lip. She felt so ashamed, but one look at Will told her that he hadn't actually noticed. Or maybe he had, but he didn't show it, which made her feel a bit more comfortable.

"Uhm, yeah, I do. A lot better," she said, knowing it had less to do with the current feeling of butterflies salsa dancing in her stomach than with her body condition at that moment, but of course she didn't tell him that.

"If you excuse me, uhm, I'm going to take a shower," she said and got up from her bed. Her bare feet touched the cold floor, "daily routine," she added, and she got some clean clothes and some towels from her closet. She could feel Will's eyes on her and she tried to ignore the faint blush that appeared on her face.

When she had left Will in her bedroom -which sounded really strange in her head- she looked into the bathroom-mirror and she couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Do you even realize what happened?" she asked the reflection in the mirror.

Reality was finally hitting her. In a good way.

Even though she was having bedhair, she felt beautiful, in a way she never had before. The man of her dreams had confessed his love for her, even if it was accidentally, but he had said he wouldn't take it back. It made her so happy and it scared her so much at the same time, but she knew she would get over the anxiety she was feeling, eventually. She wanted to, she needed to.

She shook her head, glared at the mirror, she smiled once more at herself. Then she was ready to take a shower.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, nice and clean and ready for a new day, she saw Will standing in the hallway, looking at her, like he had been waiting for her. She looked at him and she might have looked scared, because Will instantly went into worry-mode again.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and he stepped closer.

"Nothing's wrong," she shook her head lightly, "I just didn't expect you here."

"Well, I am a sneaky man after all," he joked when he realized everything was fine. Emma smiled back at those words, he was using her own words against her. She actually liked it.

And secretly, she wanted to know what more of those sneaky things he could do, but she had the sudden urge to clean.

"Will?" she asked, hestitation sounding in her voice, "I thought, uhm, since I'm feeling a lot better, maybe I could do something productive today."

"Like what?"

"I was thinking about doing, uhm, everything," she said.

"You mean every-...what?" he replied, raising his eyebrows.

"I mean, everything needs to be cleaned," she said quickly, in case Will thought she was implying something else.

Will nodded, "I see. Maybe I should measure your temperature first? If it's normal again, you can clean all the way you want,"

"Alright," Emma said, and she hoped her temperature would be back to normal, because her house was in need of a lot of cleaning. She was getting a bit itchy because of all the possible germs floating around and sticking on the surfaces of her furniture and her floor. She went to get the thermometer, cleaned it and handed it over to Will so he could measure her temperature. Again, him touching her ear and neck sent shivers up her spine.

"Hmm, your fever seems to be gone. That's a good sign!" Will said happily, like it was himself he was talking about.

"It is," she agreed.

"Now you can go and do whatever you want. I could help you if you want?"

"Thanks Will. That's very kind, but I want to do this myself. No offense, but I just...well..."

"I understand," Will said, "and it's alright. I'll be taking a shower and after that I'll be preparing my lessons for tomorrow, so if you might need me after all, just ask."

Emma nodded, "alright, thanks."

She turned around walked towards the kitchen to get prepared, her mind already in cleaning-mode.

"Oh, and Emma, one more thing," she heard Will say and she turned around again.

"Yes Will?"

"If you suddenly feel worse or get a headache or feel dizzy or anything, please stop. For your own health. Okay?"

She nodded firmly, "Okay," and turned around again and walked towards the kitchen.

"The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, the windows" she mumbled, a thing she was often doing when she was going to clean her house. Which was about seven times a week.

Which meant she would have to do it very, very thoroughly this time, because she missed two days.

I know there was a lot of uhm, non-dialoguein this chapter, and there wasn't really any fluff, but I'll make up for that next chapter! Thanks for reading. ;)